Fresnel diffraction at circular cylinders

Abstract

Fresnel diffraction is a fundamental wave phenomenon happening near the shadow boundary behind a large opaque object. Previously, it was studied for the case of diffraction at large apertures in a black screen. In this paper, we investigate this phenomenon for perfectly conducting cylinders with large cross-sections. First, this theory is developed for the circular cylinders, then extended to the cylinders of arbitrary shape. It is shown that Fresnel diffraction can be interpreted as interference of the shadow radiation with the incident wave. Analytical equations and numerical data are provided and discussed in detail.